Gop Has 5-4 Majority On Home-rule Panel

The Republican Party will enjoy a 5-4 majority over the Democratic Party when the Bucks County Government Study Commission convenes in January.

But while the GOP will hold the majority, the top vote-getter in Tuesday's election for commission seats was John T. Welsh Jr., one of the most familiar names in Bucks County Democratic politics.

Welsh and the other 25 government study candidates campaigned hard for the commission, which will have up to a year to come up with a new system of government for the county.

According to unofficial results, the nine winners of the seats included:

- Welsh, 22,535 votes. The son of the patriarch of Bucks County Democratic politics, Welsh is a former county Democratic chairman. The42-year-old Doylestown resident is director of the county real estate department. He has pledged to examine the county's assessment practices.

- Robert E. Goldman, 21,620 votes. A Republican, the 32-year-old New Britain Township resident is a flamboyant deputy district attorney. He will bring to the panel a background in the criminal justice system, having worked within the court system for the past eight years.

- John M. McClure, 20,176 votes. The Republican from West Rockhill Township will give Upper Bucks a voice on the commission. A former chief public defender, McClure, 42, is a feisty lawyer and politician.

- Peter N. Harrison, 18,197 votes. Harrison will be one of the few government study members with actual experience in the office of county commissioners, having been an assistant county solicitor for six years. He is a 43-year-old Republican from Plumstead Township.

- Ralph O. Samuel, 17,935 votes. If anyone has the background to be a government study commissioner, it is the 69-year-old Democrat from Richboro. Samuel was a member of the two prior study panels, which sat in the 1970s. He is a retired newspaper publisher.

- Mary Evans, 17,394 votes. A 61-year-old Republican from Doylestown, Evans will bring a background in tax assessment to the study commission. For the past 20 years she has been the office supervisor for the Bucks County Board of Assessment Appeals.

- John P. Dougherty, 17,195 votes. The 54-year-old study commissioner- elect from Solebury Township has been active in GOP politics for several years. He is a real estate broker who maintains an office in New Britain.

- Marlene Z. Alexander, 16,686 votes. A nurse from Bristol Township, the 45-year-old Democrat once worked as a missionary in Guatemala. She has pledged to concentrate on whether a councilmanic government could serve the Bucks County constituency.

- Janet R. Walker, 16,624 votes. A Democrat, Walker is a 39-year-old psychotherapist from New Hope. Currently serving on the Bucks County Children and Youth Board, she formerly held a seat on the Council Rock School Board.